The New Trump Team Is a Gift to America’s Enemies
Plus: Trump's NIH Pick Wants a COVID Reckoning
Recently in The Bulwark:
BILL KRISTOL & ANDREW EGGER: January 6th Was a Success
JOE PERTICONE: Trump’s Menswear Guy at the State Department
MARC CAPUTO: Trump World’s Confirmation Playbook: Speak Loudly and Unleash the MAGA Dogs
Overtime is for everyone. If you’re a subscriber: thank you. If you’re not, there’s no better time to subscribe to Bulwark+ than today. If you like today’s issue, you can share this newsletter with someone you think would value it.
A.B. STODDARD: Trump’s New Team Is a Gift to America’s Enemies
ON SUNDAY, WHEN A GOP SENATOR was asked whether Pete Hegseth’s excessive drinking could imperil his ability to serve as secretary of defense the senator responded that members of Congress and people in the news media drink a lot too. He encouraged the media to “move on” from such questions.
A fellow Republican senator who had concerns about allegations of sexual assault facing Hegseth is now the target of an online mob demanding she consent to giving him one of the most important jobs on the planet.
WILL SELBER: Assad Is Gone, But Syria’s Troubles Remain
THE ASSAD REGIME’S HALF-CENTURY reign of terror over Syria came to an end Sunday when Bashar al-Assad fled to the arms of his patron, Russia. The anti-Assad forces, led by Hay’at Tahir al-Sham (HTS), a radical Sunni Islamic terror group with deep ties to al Qaeda and the Islamic State, appeared to take control of the government. The Taliban have already congratulated their HTS brethren.
🎥 PODCASTS AND VIDEOS 🎧
Bulwark Podcast with Tim Miller: Susan Glasser: A Lame Lame Duck [YouTube]
Bulwark+ Live:
Just Between Us: What is Wrong With People? 🔐
Across the Movie Aisle: Amy Adams’s Ode to Motherhood
Did you know? Bulwark+ members can listen to an ad-free version of these podcasts on the player of their choice.
Learn more at Bulwark+ Podcast FAQ.
📣Bulwark+ members can now listen to ad-free podcasts on Spotify! Learn more here.
Our 🎥YouTube offerings are the free-versions of shows, and they do have ads.
✍️Also: Did you know that every podcast has a transcript for B+ members? Yes! If you’re more a reader than a listener/viewer, open any podcast and the transcript button is beneath the player.
CATHY YOUNG: Trump NIH Pick Wants a COVID Reckoning
DONALD TRUMP’S ANNOUNCEMENT last month of Stanford professor Dr. Jay Bhattacharya as his nominee to be the next director of the National Institutes of Health further intensified the controversy—and alarm—about what the second Trump administration will mean for American science and medicine. Consider the nominees for the most prominent federal health posts: Bhattacharya at the NIH, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as secretary of health and human services, former Florida Congressman Dr. David Weldon at the CDC, Johns Hopkins professor Dr. Marty Makary at the FDA, and former Fox News personality Dr. Janette Nesheiwat as surgeon general. This is, unmistakably, a takeover of the public health establishment by COVID-19 contrarians—or, if you prefer, by COVID cranks.
SAM STEIN: Ro Khanna Wants Musk to Disclose His Finances 🎥
NO CONGRESSIONAL DEMOCRAT has been as willing to accept and oblige Elon Musk in his MAGA turn as Rep. Ro Khanna.
The Californian, whose district includes Silicon Valley, has encouraged his fellow party members not to decamp from Musk’s platform, X. He’s praised Musk as a disruptive force for good in the electric vehicle and space industries. And he’s spoken about his desire to work collaboratively with Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency” as it looks to slash $2 trillion from government expenditures.
🚨OVERTIME🚨
Happy Tuesday! An unseasonably warm day here as the Queen City celebrates the Bengals getting out bungled by the Cowboys. During the game, star QB Joe Burrow, whose recent purchase of a Dark Knight Batmobile Tumbler, had his house robbed (NBC).
ΤΑ ΚΑΛΥΤΕΡΑ ΕΡΧΟΝΤΑΙ! Kimberly Guilfoyle, apparently no longer with DJTJ, is going to be appointed as Ambassador to… Greece? (CNN)
“Assad’s files, should they be carefully preserved, could hold a witch’s brew of secrets with current relevance to us.” Including ones, potentially, that could impact our nominations early next year (SpyTalk)
Why Juan Soto's unfathomably huge Mets contract… is making so many people mad. (Anthony Fisher, MSNBC)
"I quit my first job at Frisch's because the manager yelled at me…” “It's funny because I spent the rest of my life in jobs where I get yelled at." Tom Synan, a police chief in nearby Newtown, remembers his first job. (Cinti Enquirer)
The Voice of Milhouse… on Saying Goodbye to ‘The Simpsons’ (NYT 🎁 )
Katz’s Deli… Gets its first commercial, and it’s great.
BYU’s star Jewish quarterback Jake Retzlaff… scores sponsorship deal with Manischewitz (JTA)
These Cybertruck fails… will warm your heart this holiday season (Daily Show)
Why Democrats Got the Politics of Immigration… So Wrong for So Long (Rogé Karma, The Atlantic🎁 )
Tech support questions? Email members@thebulwark.com. Questions for me? Respond to this message.
—30—
Editorial photos provided by Getty Images. For full credits, please consult the article.